Pune’s Ganeshkhind Garden Declared a Heritage Site

Pune’s greenery and gardens are already one of its greatest attractions and we hope it stays that way. So Team Punekar was definitely rejoicing when we heard the news that the botanical gardens of Ganeshkhind were declared as a heritage site!

Located close to Spicer college, these are the city’s first ‘Biodiversity’ gardens that host a variety of medicinal plants. They are also one of the oldest gardens in the country, with some trees that were planted back in the day by the Peshwas. After the Peshwas, the garden was preserved by British Scientists.

Several discoveries have been made here in the past. The ‘Sardar’ variety of Guava was researched in this very center back in 1927, as was the ‘Ganesh’ variety of Pomegranate. Almost 15 varieties of flowers have originated here, thus giving it the status of a ‘research center’. The garden is also host to many types of insects and reptiles.

The Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth (MPKV), the owners of the garden were elated with the news. Vice Chancellor Dr. K. P. Vishwanatha was especially happy as the wait for this and the long process had been quite tedious.

Vishwanatha has taken it upon himself as a duty to preserve it for future generations. He has also declared that they plan to convert it into an education hub for researchers and visitors.

An NRI child hailing from Morocco, Dipika Asnani believes herself to be a true Punekar by now. And, you'd never guess otherwise until you speak to her in Marathi! She's a Social Media Marketer by profession but a writer at heart. Loves cats, fluffly socks, fantasy novels, is slightly obsessed with Harry Potter and will do anything for a little bit more chai.